hurt catcher

[s3weaken]

im alone on this game. bases loaded. pony league, basically OBR. 9-10 y/o.

pitch comes in, batter hits it right to the pitcher. batter lets go of bat on the backswing and it hits the catcher in the side of the arm. catcher starts crying and the pitcher couldnt throw it to home for the force out. defensive coach comes out wanting interference on the batter i guess. i said no interference. should there be interference called for a play like this?

[BT_Blue]

I wouldnt think so but I could be wrong.

If the bat was thrown you could have an ejection for unsafe play (or what ever you want to call it)

[s3weaken]

I usually give the team a warning when one of the kids throw the bat a little harder than they are supposed to after hitting a ball. On this incident it just happened to hit the catcher. I was just wondering if I should have called the batter out for interference.

[BT_Blue]

Then in that case I got nothing.

[heyblue26]

im alone on this game. bases loaded. pony league, basically OBR. 9-10 y/o.

pitch comes in, batter hits it right to the pitcher. batter lets go of bat on the backswing and it hits the catcher in the side of the arm. catcher starts crying and the pitcher couldnt throw it to home for the force out. defensive coach comes out wanting interference on the batter i guess. i said no interference. should there be interference called for a play like this?

Batter Interference if the batter hinders the catcher {6.06c}
[1] Intentionally
[2] by stumbling or stepping outside the batter's box
[3] by abnormal or extraordinary movement inside the batter's box, or
[4] with his bat

Note; if the batter's action is not intentional, does not involve the catcher's fielding of the pitch, and the catcher does not try to throw, then it is not interference.

Backswing: A batter's backswing occurs after he has swung through the pitch, and he continues his swing all the way around until the bat reaches the vicinity of the catcher. If the batter contacts the catcher, or his mitt, or the baseball unintentionally with the back swing, it is interference with out a play.

Exception: If the back swing hits the catcher after the ball has been batted and the catcher is prevented from making a play, it is treated as regular interference; the batter-runner is out and other runners return to their TOP bases. Also backswing contact may occur after a wild pitch (ball is far removed from the catcher, who has no play); the ball is dead and runners are allowed only one base. This quote is from the J/R manual. Hope that this helps.

[s3weaken]

So, in my situtation, there should have been batter's interference, the batter out and all others return to bases before the interference happened?

[bigbird69]

I know this same sitch happened to the Yankees Jorge Posada w/ Pettitte on the mound a few years ago (though the bat never left the batters hands prior to contact.) They called nothing.

[s3weaken]

Note; if the batter's action is not intentional, does not involve the catcher's fielding of the pitch, and the catcher does not try to throw, then it is not interference.
This is saying I should not call interference.

Backswing: A batter's backswing occurs after he has swung through the pitch, and he continues his swing all the way around until the bat reaches the vicinity of the catcher. If the batter contacts the catcher, or his mitt, or the baseball unintentionally with the back swing, it is interference with out a play.
This is saying I should call interference.

So, which one?

[scumpire]

No interference.

The rules that have been quoted don't apply here.

6.06c applies to the batter interfering with the catchers attempt to throw out a runner at a base. R1 stealing, batter swings and misses and leans over the plate and interferes with the catchers throw.

The rule about the backswing is for when the batter swings and misses and his backswing hits the catcher.

For this situation it's nothing. Part of baseball, unless your league has some type of rule for it. But there is nothing in OBR for it. Next time the kid comes up to bat tell him to watch it. You might even let the coach know so he can tell the kid to be more careful.

[postman]

I've seen more than one ump in my experience call batter out for 'hitting the catcher with the bat', but I don't believe that is a real "rule" that I can find anywhere other than the interference rules already posted here. Last time was this past season. Offensive coach started to 'question' the call, but Umpire said "hey, he hit the kid squarely with the bat". Went further on about teaching safety, etc. And it was a 14 yr old AAA game in a USSSA Tournament if you want to know. Neither coach continued any discussion and game continued.

So, what do you do if a ump calls 'out' when it really isn't an out - assuming it was your ump partner and assuming the coaches back down and don't attempt to appeal. I assume, as an ump, you just let it go and not question/correct the call?

[BT_Blue]

You bet I let it go. Then asked my partner about it after the game.

[killdump]

You bet I let it go. Then asked my partner about it after the game.Couldn't agree more......

[postman]

sounds good. Thanks